Art project reaches out to those on the street

SAN FRANCISCO

Jessica Kwong, Chronicle Staff Writer

Published 4:00 am, Sunday, January 9, 2011

Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle

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Vinola Stallings, picks out just the right pastel color, as the San Francisco Department of Public Health holds their second Art Corner at the main public library in San Francisco, Ca., on Friday Jan. 7, 2011. The Art Corner is an attempt to engage individuals in a healthy activity and lead into a conversation about enrolling in housing and services. less

Vinola Stallings, picks out just the right pastel color, as the San Francisco Department of Public Health holds their second Art Corner at the main public library in San Francisco, Ca., on Friday Jan. 7, 2011. ... more

Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle

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Rene Chivilo, creates as a crowd begins to gather, as the San Francisco Department of Public Health hold their second Art Corner event at the main public library in San Francisco, Ca., on Friday Jan. 7, 2011. The Art Corner is an attempt to engage individuals in a healthy activity and lead into a conversation about enrolling in housing and services. less

Rene Chivilo, creates as a crowd begins to gather, as the San Francisco Department of Public Health hold their second Art Corner event at the main public library in San Francisco, Ca., on Friday Jan. 7, 2011. ... more

Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle

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Wayne "Footasso" Foote who was homeless himself for three years is now a member of the outreach team, as the San Francisco Department of Public Health holds their second Art Corner event at the main public library in San Francisco, Ca., on Friday Jan. 7, 2011. The Art Corner is an attempt to engage individuals in a healthy activity and lead into a conversation about enrolling in housing and services. less

Wayne "Footasso" Foote who was homeless himself for three years is now a member of the outreach team, as the San Francisco Department of Public Health holds their second Art Corner event at the main public ... more

Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle

Art project reaches out to those on the street

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Vinola Stallings, who is homeless, spent a good chunk of her Friday afternoon surrounded by people in red berets and sitting at a corner outside the Main Library, creating the solar system out of pastels.

She was drawing on one of four easels set up for Art Corner, an activity designed to curb loitering and drug use by people in the area outside the library at Fulton and Larkin streets.

"It has brightened my day," Stallings, 43, said, blending shades of red into her sun. "It's fun engaging in art, I think it's a good outlet."

Sitting at an easel beside her, formerly homeless street artist Wayne Foote put the finishing touches and title to his piece, "A Day Without Sun."

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The 48-year-old spent three years on the streets at Hippie Hill on Haight Street, selling hundreds of art pieces for $5 to $10, until 18 months ago, when Homeless Outreach Team members got him into housing and into treatment for his alcohol and drug addictions. Now Foote and other facilitators in red berets are using the art corner as an avenue to offer services to similarly troubled individuals.

"I'm here as a representation that if you are or were homeless, you can do anything you want," said Foote, who calls himself "Footasso" because his pieces follow Picasso's style. "Five hundred pieces later, I'm a facilitator for this art activity."

Half a dozen individuals hang around the corner on a regular basis, often drinking or smoking, said San Francisco police Sgt. Pat Kwan, head of security for the library system. Sometimes, the group grows to 15 people.

The first art corner activity - a joint effort by the library and the Homeless Outreach Team's umbrella organization, San Francisco Fully-Integrated Recovery Services - took place in early December. Facilitators are there to encourage homeless people to channel their energy in a positive manner.

Homeless Outreach Team members have approached distressed individuals hoping to enroll them in housing, psychiatric services and medical care, but a handful haven't been receptive, said Rajesh Parekh, director of San Francisco Fully-Integrated Recovery Services. The art activity is a way to ease them into accepting assistance, he said.

"Homeless have all kinds of mental, cognitive difficulties, substance dependence, disorders and anxiety," Parekh said. "It can be a very nuanced task to try to persuade someone to accept help, so this is a different kind of engagement tool."

The activity brings out accomplishments that participants may have had in their pasts, said Russell Berman, vocational services coordinator for San Francisco Fully-Integrated Recovery Services, while watching the artists.

"Their current state doesn't always reflect what they've done in the past," he said.

In the last year, more homeless and jobless individuals are spending time at the library and they are great candidates for the art corner, said Leah Esguerra, the library's psychiatric social worker. But the activity is also open to anybody who happens by.

With a small budget of a couple of hundred dollars, the outreach team plans to hold Art Corner activities on the first Friday of February and March, and more frequently when the weather gets better.

On the two days it's been set up so far, the art corner has fulfilled another purpose - erasing an eyesore for passers-by.

San Francisco resident Robyn Burnham, who visits the library several times a week with her 9-year-old-daughter, said the change made her feel less uncomfortable.

"I walk by homeless that seemed unstable or agitated," Burnham said. "It's a positive step to help the disenfranchised."

Alicia Wan, a 22-year-old tourist visiting from Columbus, Ohio, didn't pick up pastels and paper but snapped plenty of photos.

"Homeless people are great at drawing," she said. "Better than I can do."

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